Ah, Suzuka. A very challenging circuit, at least in my experiences with it in video games. Lot's of high speed corners which leave little margin for error, and if one does make an error, they could very easily end up in a gravel trap instead of the usual tarmac run-off, with the gravel at the Degner curves being particularly unforgiving.
The abundance of high-speed corners throughout the lap will probably make for underwhelming lap times in the relatively low downforce cars of 2014. That is, if we even get a dry session to compare lap times with; Typhoon Phanfone looms, making it a strong possibility that qualifying and/or the race could be contested in wet or even monsoon conditions. Though I for one would welcome a wet weather race, it's been too long since we had a truly wet race in F1...
The typhoon is expected to arrive on monday , while anyway on sunday it's predicted to rain but not that heavily and saturday will be windy but sunny (for what I've seen now).
It'll be interesting to see if Mercedes will be dominant also here in those conditions ; Red Bull is the best H car (Handling refering to GPRO attributes) and will probably make Mercedes work harder for this race.
So this is my prediction with no drivers : Mercedes for the pole , but Red Bull for the race.
Don't really know about Ferrari , but I don't think they will be very competitive for the podium ; I just expect Alonso to arrive around 4th-5th position and Raikkonen around 6th-7th.
Quote ( Brandon Griffiths @ October 2nd 2014,13:08:16 )
Daniel has been the best driver by far this season the only one to compete with the Mercs in a car engineered worse than them.
+1
That's why I think he will be the best candidate to win this race : in wet track conditions Red Bull can do big things and Daniel can definitely win this one.
Though also Vettel is still able to go on podium and to win a race , I don't think he will be able to win this one : he's a damn tough driver but Daniel has my vote for this season.
what problems? at only 2 races, but Vettel almost every races has car or tactic problems
It's not always the team's fault man , you can't always blame them for his failures this season.
The point is : Daniel Ricciardo always proved this season to be better than Seb and the only one outside the Mercedes world able to compete with them with a worse car than theirs.
not the team's falult, but Vettel lost a lot of points involuntary. that's fact.. So Ricciardo not better, only more luckier than Vettel.
In the 10 races where both of them finished (and not DSQ), Ricciardo was ahead of Vettel in 8 of them. In how many of those 10 races did Vettel have car problems? One, maybe two?
It's like saying that Vettel was luckier than Webber as he had no car problems (well, Vettel was pretty lucky in 2010 season end tbh). The cards have now swapped, even Schumacher's dominance didn't last forever.
Quote ( Andrei Ciuchi @ October 2nd 2014,14:23:19 )
Quote ( Veres Tamás @ October 2nd 2014,14:19:53 )
not the team's falult, but Vettel lost a lot of points involuntary. that's fact.. So Ricciardo not better, only more luckier than Vettel.
In the 10 races where both of them finished (and not DSQ), Ricciardo was ahead of Vettel in 8 of them. In how many of those 10 races did Vettel have car problems?
car problem(and outing) --> Australia,Bahrein,Monte Carlo, Red Bull Ring,Barcelona, Hungary, SPA, Singapore(friday)
Where Vettel got a bad tactic: Shanghai,Montreal,Silverstone,Hungaroring,Monza.
where Vettel's car works well: Malaysia,Hockenheim,Singapore: better than Ricciardo
Yes, but look at Ricciardo. He managed to win three races and seven podiums (eight if you count Australia). Vettel has two podiums. Problems or not, Ricciardo is the superior driver this season for RBR.
Australia,Bahrein,Monte Carlo, Red Bull Ring,Barcelona, Hungary, SPA, Singapore(friday)
I said where BOTH finished. Vettel retired in Australia, Monaco, and Austria. And Singapore ... I wasn't referring to practice. Not to mention Vettel finished ahead of Ricciardo there.
I know Vettel had problems in Spain. What about Bahrain, Hungary and Belgium? What problems did he have there during the race, because I honestly don't remember those?
And, even if he did have issues in those three races, there's still four other races where Ricciardo beat him on the track. Tactical errors or no tactical errors.
Quote ( Andrei Ciuchi @ October 2nd 2014,14:32:29 )
Quote ( Veres Tamás @ October 2nd 2014,14:26:34 )
Australia,Bahrein,Monte Carlo, Red Bull Ring,Barcelona, Hungary, SPA, Singapore(friday)
I said where BOTH finished. Vettel retired in Australia, Monaco, and Austria. And Singapore ... I wasn't referring to practice. Not to mention Vettel finished ahead of Ricciardo there.
I know Vettel had problems in Spain. What about Bahrain, Hungary and Belgium? What problems did he have there during the race, because I honestly don't remember those?
You have to read much more about Vettel Bahrein: DRS and engline problems in the Quali and the race Hungary: the turbo went wrong after the 1.SC (when the race restarted) and he had only 500 horsepower not ~700 Belgium: In the 2.sector he got 1mp from Ricciardo...this is incredibly much.. Vettel have to miss all friday's practise and the car was very bad....He can't find the correct setup for the race.
Quote ( Andrei Ciuchi @ October 2nd 2014,14:42:44 )
Maybe Webber's mechanics from last season moved to his team. :)
no, because Vettel had lots of car problem since 2009.. the same number of car problem than Webber, but you naturally can't remember Vettel's, only Webber's
It's sad that people always blame the team instead of blaming the driver for once.
Ricciardo proved to be superior this season with an identical car as Vettel ; managed a lot of podiums and even 3 wins , so for me it's not that hard to say that Daniel was superior this season for RBR.
Same reason for which I think he is going to win this GP and to do better than Seb again ; and even if Vettel will prove me wrong this time , it will not change my opinion on him for this season.
And read carefully , this doesn't refer to their general skills but just for this season ; I'm not saying Ricciardo is a superior driver than Vettel in general , but my statements were referred at the current season.
no, because Vettel had lots of car problem since 2009.. the same number of car problem than Webber
Vettel had more non-finishes in 2009 and 2010. Same number of retirements in 2011. Webber had more non-finishes in 2012 and 2013. Yes, in that case, they had the same number of non-finishes.
But Webber also had car issues in some of the races that did finish.
So no offense ... but Webber had more car problems ...
Quote ( Andrei Ciuchi @ October 2nd 2014,14:52:09 )
Naturally you call me biased.
you! you are biased and i think you hate Vettel and you can't recognize Vettel's talent.
Quote ( Andrei Ciuchi @ October 2nd 2014,14:52:09 )
But Webber also had car issues in some of the races that did finish.
Webber usually had KERS problem, he lost only 1-2 position, but Vettel outing when he was 1.(!!!) (3 times in 2010 (Bahrein was 4. instead of 1.) and 2012 Valencia, 2011 Abu Dhabi... ,2013 Silverstone and lost 1 world championship in 2009 because of car problems.
! I am biased and can't recognize Ricciardo's talent.
Corrected that for you.
Vettel has not preformed this season on the most part(he would be the first to admit that), I don't think anyone dispute's he has talent just he's lacks charisma :)
But most importantly Daniel has took his chance at a big team and run with it and clearly is talented.
On another note I hope someone picks up Vergne for next season :)
Webber usually had KERS problem, he lost only 1-2 position
KERS is a big thing in races today. If it's malfunctioning, you have a big problem. Webber lost track position when he had those issues. I'd say that's significant.
Quote ( Andrei Ciuchi @ October 2nd 2014,15:03:50 )
statement irrelevant.
Vettel lost about 10-20 points in 2009 (old point system), about 100 points in 2010, 25points in 2011, about 60 points in 2012 and 25 in 2013... That's more than 200 point's what Vettel lost involuntary... Webber hadn't lost more points than Vettel That's fact, Case Closed
My statement are not irrelevant, I only write the facts.
Quote ( Mike Brummert @ October 2nd 2014,15:15:38 )
Quote ( Veres Tamás @ October 2nd 2014,13:11:28 )
Vettel almost every races has car or tactic problems
Many of the "Tactical problems" that Vettel has had this year are due to his inability to take care of the tyres. Ricciardo is regularly getting 3 or 4, and sometimes 5 more laps out of the softer rubber than Vettel has. So its no surprise that when it comes down to the end of a race Ricciardo will have the advantage.
Additionally, having this much bigger of a pit window will allow for the team to be more flexible with pit timing and strategy in general.
I see this as the main difference between the two, and the reason for Ricciardo's success this season.
Luca: I don't know, man. Mercedes has shown a strong package in regards to downforce. They don't seem to suffer in wet, and they certainly haven't struggled through high speed corners this season.
Vettel is an extremely talented driver , he wouldn't have won 4 world championship if he wasn't (of course he had a damn good car , but that's goes second).
The fact that you just can't accept Ricciardo's talent is sad , because same as Vettel , he also is extremely talented and with the same car as Sebastian , he showed to be a true raw talent this season and beat his team-mate several and several times.
And also , let me refresh your memory about my opinions :
Quote ( Luca Bertani @ October 2nd 2014,14:46:23 )
And read carefully , this doesn't refer to their general skills but just for this season ; I'm not saying Ricciardo is a superior driver than Vettel in general , but my statements were referred at the current season
You're the one biased in this confrontation Veres ; but anyway if you want to continue thinking that it's only a luck factor , then I'll let you continue thinking it. :)
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